ELA6+Character+Development

toc Unit 1A This four-week unit of sixth grade starts off the year with reflections on childhood across the genres. As a performance assessment, students will compose a fictional story taking into account character and story development. To prepare for this assignment, students will explore various forms of literature to study story elements, character development, and descriptive writing. They will evaluate informational and narrative forms of literature and media to address bullying as a childhood concern/problem. During language study, students will study the four kinds of sentences, subjects and predicates, and compound sentences. These units of study will be assessed as part of the performance assessment.
 * Topic **
 * I Won't Grow Up **


 * Essential Question: What can we learn about growing up from literature? How do authors share their lessons of life? What are the differences between childhood and adulthood and how does literature show us these differences? **

=Common Core Standards= Reading Standards for Literature 6-12 // Key Ideas and Details // 1.Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text 2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. 3. Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution //Craft and Structure // 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone. **//(Eleven)//** 5. Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot. //**(Excerpt from Freak the Mighty)**// 6. Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text. //**(Freak the Mighty)**//   //Integration of Knowledge and Ideas // 7. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch. //**(Freak the Mighty / The Mighty)**// 9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics. //**(Author Study: Maya Angelou / Life Doesn't Frighten Me)****(Informational Text on Bullying / My Superpowers/Freak the Mighty)**// 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. Reading Standards for Informational Text 6-12 // Key Ideas and Details // 1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 2. Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgements. 3. Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through example or anecdotes.) //<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Craft and Structure // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings. **//(Maya Angelou Biography)//** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overal structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas. **//(Maya Angelou Biography)//** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text. //**(Maya Angelou Biography)**// //<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Integration of Knowledge and Ideas // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue. //**(Cruel Schools from United Streaming)**// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8. Trace and evaluate the arguement and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not. **//(Informational Text on Bullying)//**

Writing Standards 6-12 //** (Perfomance Assessment) **// // Text Types and Purposes // 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events and/or characters. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events. //<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Production and Distribution of Writing // 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 5. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. 6. Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.

Language Standards 6-12 // Conventions of Standard English // 1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Demonstrate command of the convention of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. //<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Knowledge of Language // 3. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. a. Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener, interest, and style. //<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Vocabulary Acquisition and Use // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in words meanings. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g. personification) in context //**(Eleven)**// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">c. Distinguish among the connotations (association) of words with similar denotations (definitions) e.g., //stingy, scrimping, economical, unwasteful, thrifty)// //**(Eleven)**//

=Suggested Student Objectives=
 * Note: These lessons should be taught using the common core workbook units that coincide with these objectives as supplemental material. Unit 2: Strategies for Literature and Unit 4: Vocabulary**

//**Eleven**// //**SWBAT:**//
 * //Maya Angelou and Life Doesn't Frighten Me//**
 * //On Turning Ten//**
 * //SWBAT://**
 * **tell** how a biographical essay and poem work together to provide us with a sense of who Maya Angelou is
 * create a list of interview questions to ask Maya Angelou if you had the opportunity to meet her
 * identify the speaker, and recognize the difference between first and third-person narration
 * determine the audience in a poem
 * compare and contrast the speakers in two poem with a similar theme
 * note the difference between a direct quote and an indirect quote
 * determine an author's point of view toward the subject of a biography
 * outline how a character is revealed through her actions and thoughts. Identify the way a writer reveals a character's personality as **characterization.**
 * analyze the use of **figurative language** in narrative writing
 * **cite details to convince a reader** that Sandra Cisneros really does remember what being eleven is like
 * **identify the difference between** the use of **"affects**" and **"effects"** in language
 * write a paragraph using **vivid sensory details**
 * identify how a **word's connotations** are the feelings and ideas that we associate, or connect, with the word
 * write a **character sketch** that reveals Rachel's personality

//**My Superpowers and Reality Matters: Cruel School (United Streaming)**// //**SWBAT:**//
 * mark a text to identify **narrative elements**
 * differentiate between an **internal and external conflict** in a character **(Bullying)**
 * **compare and contrast texts** in different forms that cover **similar themes**


 * //Freak the Mighty//**
 * //SWBAT://**
 * **describe** how __Freak the Mighty__'s plot **unfolds** in a series of episodes
 * note how the characters **respond or change** as the plot moves toward a resolution
 * chart the various types of **conflicts** Max encounters thoroughout the story
 * understand how writers establish our first impressions of a character
 * compare and contrast texts in different forms that cover similar themes **(Bullying)**

//**Performance Assessment: Narrative Writing**// //**SWBAT:**//
 * introduce a **narrator** and/or **characters**
 * **organize** an event sequence that includes **all story elements**
 * **use dialogue** in their writing
 * use a variety of **transition words**
 * use **sensory language**
 * **provide a conclusion** that follows the narrated events
 * work with a peer **to revise and edit** their work

//**Grammar and Punctuation**// //**SWBAT:**//
 * write four kinds of sentences, each with its specific ending punctuation
 * write complete sentences with a subject and a predicate
 * vary their sentences by writing with both compound and simple sentences. They will connect two simple sentences with a conjuntion to form a compound sentence in their writing.

= Terminology/ Academic Vocabulary = Life Doesn't Frighten Me || Eleven || My Superpowers and Reality Matters: Cruel Schools || Freak the Mighty / The Mighty || Grammar Study || Performance Assessment: Narrative Writing || exposition || declarative sentence || narrator || first-person and third person || language || external conflict || climax || imperative sentence || The Writing Process || simple subject complete subject || revising || simple predicate complete predicate || editing || man vs self man vs nature man vs society || compound sentence simple sentence conjunction || publishing peer review story elements || "Life Doesn't Frighten Me" by Maya Angelou "On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins
 * Maya Angelou and
 * biography || characterization || personal narrative || plot
 * autobiography || inferences || conflict || rising action || interrogative sentence || point of view
 * speaker || figuarative
 * direct quote || affects || internal conflict || falling action || exclamatory sentence || planning ||
 * indirect quote || effects || resolution || resolution || subject
 * theme || sensory details || theme || characterization || predicate
 * || connotations || setting || conflict: man vs man
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Required Readings **
 * Poetry**

"Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros "My Superpowers" by Dan Greenberg
 * Literary Texts**

from Women of Hope: African Americans Who Made a Difference Maya Angelou - by Joyce Hansen Reality Matters: Cruel Schools (United Streaming Movie)
 * Informational Text**

Freak the Mighty by Rodham Philbrick
 * Novel**

=Resource Links= [|www.readwritethink.org]



=Activities= __Literature Response__ (RL.6.1) As you read take notes about the following in your journal:
 * Setting
 * List of characters and their traits
 * The character’s internal and external behaviors to events in the story
 * The events that lead to climax, and, ultimately, the character’s development

__Literature Response__ (RL.6.1, RL.6.3) Discuss the elements of setting (e.g., time, place, environment) with your classmates. Find examples of how time, place, and environment are used in the story. Write your ideas on a sticky note before sharing ideas as a class. After the class discussion, look back in the text to find specific examples of how the author described the setting. Create a three-column chart in your journal to help organize your notes; use one column for each element of setting.

__Literature Response__ (RL.6.1, RL.6.3) Create a character map of one of the characters citing specific examples from the text. As a class, we will compare and contrast similarities and differences in how the characters develop over the course of a story, and discuss how we learn from the behavior of literary characters – both through examples and “non-examples.”

__Dramatization/Fluency__ (SL.6.6) Choose a scene from one of the books that you find humorous or that touched you in some way. Work with classmates to present the scene as a dramatic reading.

__Informative/Explanatory Writing__ (RI.6.1, L.6.1a,b, L.6.2a,b) **Maya Angelou / Sandra Cisneros** What did you learn about the authors from the biographies, autobiographies, letters, or interviews that you didn’t know before? How much of the author’s experience do you “see” in the text after learning more about him/her? Prior to drafting your essay, you should establish a plan for locating credible and reliable information. Your explanation should be a well-developed essay that includes three to four supporting details. Edit your writing for pronouns, punctuation, and spelling.

__Poetry Response__ (SL.6.6) How is the treatment of growing up similar and different in the poems and the prose we’ve read? Write your ideas in your journal prior to class discussion.

__Literature Response/Media Appreciation__ (RL.6.7) What does the phrase “I won’t grow up” mean to you? Based on the lyrics from the musical version of //Peter Pan//, what does growing up mean to Peter? Does this song include aspects of growing up? Your teacher may ask you to first write your response in your journal and share it with a partner prior to discussing as a class. (//Note:// Alternatively, you may watch the “I Won’t Grow Up” scene from the movie or on YouTube and then discuss.)

__Word Study__ Keep an index card file of words studied while reading. Keeping the words on index cards will help you when we sort words by prefix, suffix, root words, meaning, spelling feature, and so on. Can you select a word and find its root? How do prefixes and suffixes affect the part of speech and spelling? (//Note:// This will be an ongoing activity all year long.)

__Informative / Explanatory Writing__ (W.6.9a,b, W.6.4, L.6.1a,b, L.6.2a,b) **REQUIRED FOR ASSESSMENT** Write an informative / explanatory essay in response to the essential question (What distinguishes childhood from adulthood?). Choose at least three things learned from a character or an author and explain what you learned from them. Prepare the essay for publication by editing, especially for nouns, punctuation, and spelling.

__Grammar and Usage__ (L.6.1a) Your teacher will teach mini-lessons on the individual language standards. For example, he/she will explain pronouns and adverbs to the class, and then you will practice some cloze activities as a class: (i.e., (1) I told you about the dog _ [who, whose, whom, which, that] lives next door. (2) The stars were shining _ [brightly, bright] in the night sky.) Select a piece of your own writing, circle the pronouns and adverbs, and ensure the correct words were used.

__Mechanics/Grammar Wall__ (L.6.1, L.6.2, L.6.3) As a class, create a Mechanics/Grammar bulletin board where, throughout the year, you will add to a checklist of editing topics as they are taught through targeted mini-lessons (e.g., proper use of punctuation, capitalization). Once skills are taught in a mini-lesson and listed on the bulletin board, you are expected to edit your work for the elements of publication.

__Mechanics__ (L.6.2a) Your teacher will teach mini-lessons on the individual language standards. For example, as a class you will find examples of commas, parentheses, and dashes in books read in class. See if the class can generalize rules for when these are used. (See the following examples: (1) The 25th anniversary of our school (August 25, 2008) brought back memories for the retired teachers who worked there. (2) The 25th anniversary of our school – August 25, 2008 – brought back memories for the retired teachers who worked there. (3) Sheila’s youngest brother, Connor, will be visiting her in the hospital.) Then, you will choose a piece of your own writing and see if there is a place where information could be added – and decide if a comma, parentheses, or a dash is needed. Check your work with a partner.

__Vocabulary / Word Wall__ (L.6.4) As a class, create a Vocabulary Word Wall bulletin board where, throughout the year, you will add and sort words as you learn them in each unit of study.

=Performance Assessment=
 * Narrative Writing:** Create a fictional story

Cold Read "Dust" NYS Common Core Practice Intrim Assessment - Character Unit Common Core Workbook
 * Benchmark Exam **

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